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I shook ined battle there, sir," I said, and then tried to recall what I had been i and cavalla had no place in that living god Had I truly been longing to live there, a the trees, in shade and damp and muffled quiet? It was so at odds with all that I had planned for hed out loud It was as if I had suddenly been jarred out of so his pipe and took a deep draw from it He let the se of old Gernia, son These forests used to ht of them as the wild lands, and we cared little for as beyond thees within them, and of course we harvested lu place for farmer or shepherd It was only e expanded beyond theht to settle here Two more bends of the river, and we’ll be into Gernia proper" He rolled his shoulders, stretching in a gentlelanced down at my feet and frowned "You do intend to put on some boots before you come to breakfast, don’t you?"
"Yes, sir Of course"
"Well then I will see you at table shortly Beautiful , isn’t it?"
"Yes, sir"
He strolled away from me I knew his routine He would next check on the horses in their deck stalls, he’d have a sociable word or tith the steersman and then return to our stateroom briefly and thence to the captain’s table for breakfast, where I would join them
But I still had a few more moments to enjoy the forest I reached for that first consciousness I’d had of it, but could not reattain that state of heightened awareness The old god that was Forest had turned his face away from me I could only see it as I had seen it all my life, as trees and ani higher; the lided past us Asa slow bend in the river I went back to our stateroo out, to annoying stubble that could not be combed I hastily made the bed I had so quickly abandoned at dawn and then headed to the captain’s small salon for breakfast
The captain’s salon and table were unpretentious on such a small vessel I think , he and Captain Rhosher exchanged pleasantries about the weather and discussed what the day’s travelFor the most part, I ate and listened to the conversation The enerous and the food was honest Porridge, bacon, bread, fresh apples, and a strongtea made up the most of it I was happy to fill h the night
"It was a good run, with a strong ht, or even for the rest of the day Once we go past Loggers, the river will be thick with log rafts Those are bad enough to get around, but worse are the strays The river has gone silty, with shallows grohere they never were before Wedge a stray log in a sandbar, let us run upon it blind, and we’ll hole our hull The lookout and the sounder ork for their wages today, as will our polemen Still, I foresee that we’ll make Canby as scheduled"
They went on to discuss our disembarke on Our captainthat my father was not interested in their speed, but only desired the novelty of the experience and the coentlemen who preferred such distinctive travel to his own si this, I became aware of a very unpleasant snore it, but it quickly quenched an to rew stronger I glanced toward the slected on the ship’s little oil stove But no visible ser It had the reatly displeased my nose and irritated my throat It woke in me a sense of terror, a panic I could scarcely smother It was all I could do to stay ineyes discreetly with rinned at ers getting to you, lad We’ll have thick breathing for the next day or so, until we’re past their operations They’re burning the trash wood, the green branches and viny stuff, to get it out of the way so the teaet up and down the hills easier Makes for a lot of s on further down the river two years ago That company would just set fire to the hillside and burn off the underbrush Anything big enough to be left standing, they harvested right away, to beat the worms to it Fast money, but a terrible lot of waste, that was how I saw it"